Destroy terror dens or we will: CIA to Pakistan

Washington/Islamabad: Days after Pakistan freed Hafiz Sayeed, the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai attacks, America’s spy chief has said that Pakistan’s policy of using terrorists as a leverage against India and Afghanistan has not changed and the US will do everything it can to ensure that terror safe havens no longer exist in Pakistan.

In a stern warning to Pakistan, the CIA chief said if Islamabad does not eliminate terrorist “safe havens” in its territory, the US will do “everything” it can to destroy them.

The statement by CIA director Mike Pompeo came ahead of US defence secretary Jim Mattis’ visit to Islamabad where he will persuade Pakistan to support the new US strategy on Afghanistan.

Speaking at Regan National Defence Forum in California over the weekend, Mr Pompeo said, “Mattis will deliver the message that says, ‘We would love you to do that. That is that safe haven inside of Pakistan has worked to the detriment of our capacity to do what we needed to do in Afghanistan and in the absence of the Pakistanis achieving that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that that safe haven no longer exists.’”

Appearing on the same panel, former CIA director and defense secretary Leon Panetta said, “Pakistan has this kind of two-edged approach to dealing with terrorism. On the one hand, yes, they don’t like terrorism where the attacks from terrorists are in their country. But at the same time, they don’t mind using terrorists as leverage to deal with Afghanistan and to deal with India. That’s the policy that they’ve been involved with.”

Mr Mattis’ first visit to Pakistan as defence secretary is aimed at pushing its long-time ally to do more to combat insurgents who use bases in Pakistan’s tribal belt to target Nato troops in Afghanistan.